Wagon rack or box lifting device.



Patented Jan, 5, 1909.

2 SHEBISSHEET 1.

G. A PETERS. WAGON RACK 0R BOX LIPTING DEVICE.

5% W m W W a 1 W1 x w -v T1 L APPLICATION FILED JULY 13, 1908.

G. A. PETERS. WAGON RACK 0R BOX LIFTIN G DEVICE.

- APPLICATION FILED JULY 13, 1908. 908,491

Patented Jan. 5, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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GEORGE A. PETERS, OF HUTOHINSON, MINNESOTA.

WAGON RACK OR BOX LIFTIN G DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 5, 1909.

Application filed July 13, 1908. Serial No. 443,346.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. PETERS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hutchinson, in the county of McLeod and State of Minnesota,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wagon Rack or BoxLifting Devices; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention has for its object to provide a simple and efficient hayrack or wagon box lifting device, whereby the rack or boX may be raisedoff from the running gear of the wagon, under a forward movement of thewagon; and to this end it consists of the novel devices and combinationsof devices hereinafter described and defined in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate the invention, likecharacters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a view in side elevation, withsome parts broken away and some parts shown in diagram only,illustrating my invention applied to a hay rack. Fig. 2 is a plan viewof the parts shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side elevation showing therack in a position which it will occupy when removed from the wagonrunning gear; and Fig. lis a detail in plan view, showing a so-calledthrust lever which is applied to the rack and is engageable with one ofthe bolsters of the running gear.

Of the parts of the running gear, the numeral 1 indicates the axles, thenumeral 2 the bolsters having posts 3, the numeral 4 the reach, and thenumeral 5 the wheels, which latter are indicated by dotted lines only,and all of which parts may be of the usual or any suitable construction.

The body of the rack is made up of laterally s aced body beams 6,transverse tie bars 01' b0 sters 7 resting upon and secured to saidbeams 6, and longitudinally extended bottom-forming slats 8 secured ontop of the tie bars 7. Posts 9 are detachably seated at their lower endsin sockets 10 secured on the ends of the intermediate tie bars 7, and onthe rear side of the rear tie bars 7. The front end frame 11, of theusual or any suitable construction, is pivotally connected, at its lowerend, to the front ends of the body beams 6. The said body beams 6, whenthe rack is applied to the running gear, rest upon the two bolsters 2between the retaining posts 3 thereof.

In applying my invention I employ a pair of transverse crank shafts 12having long laterally spaced parallel lifting legs 13, the ends ofwhich, as shown, are bent laterally at 13 to afford better contact withthe ground. These crank shafts 12 are carried one by each of the longtie bars or bolsters 7 and are journaled in suitable bearings thereon.The intermediate portions of the arms 13 which are on the same side ofthe rack are connected, for parallel oscillatory movements, by suitableside frame structures which may take various forms but which, as shown,are each made up of a pair of vertically spaced horizontally extendedboards 14,, the ends of which are tied together by end bars 15, to theintermediate portions of which latter the intermediate portions of thecorresponding lifting legs 13 are pivotally connected, at 16. Normally,or when the legs 13 are turned upward and the side frames supported intheir raised and operative positions, as shown in Fig. 1, the said partsare held in such positions by brace rods 17, shown as pivotallyconnected at their lower ends to one of the tie bars 7, and provided attheir free ends with hooks or bent portions that detachably engage eyes18 on the front lifting legs 13. For a purpose whichwill presentlyappear, chains or flexible connections 19 connect the end portions ofthe rear intermediate bar 7 to the rear end lifting legs 13. Pivotallyconnected at its forward end to the intermediate portion of the saidrearmost intermediate tie bar 7 is a so-called thrust lever or latch 20,the free end of which normally engages with the rear bolster 2, as shownin Fig. 1. The upward movement of this thrust lever 20 is limited by atransverse stop 21 carried by the body of the rack, and a coiled spring22 connected to the intermediate portion of said lever and to theadjacent bolsters 7 yieldingly holds said lever against said stop.Mounted in suitable bearings on the said rear intermediate tie bar 7 isa lever actuated crank rod 23. At one end this rod 23 is bent to form anoperating lever 24, and at its intermediate portion it is provided witha baillike crank 25 that works in a U-bolt 26 applied. to the said lever20. The side portions 14.- of the movable side frames are provided withlaterally offset angle brackets 27 that normally engage the intermediateside posts.

9, as best shown in Fig. 2.

When the rack is adjusted as shown in Fig. 1, it is in condition foruse. When it is desired to remove the entire rack from the running gearof the wagon, the brace rods 17 are first unhooked from the arms 13 andthen the side frames are moved forward and permitted to drop until thefree ends of the lifting legs 13 are brought into engagement with theground, as shown in Fig. 1, by reference to which it will be seen thatsaid legs stand at a forwardly extended incline. Then when the wagon isdrawn forward the lifting legs will be rocked on their lower ends untilthey reach positions beyond their dead centers, as shown in Fig. 3. Thechains 19 then serve to limit the forward movement of the rack on thearms and the rack will be gravity-held in its uplifted position. Thevertical movement thus imparted to the rack is thus sufficient to permitthe running gear of the wagon to be drawn out from under the same, andit of course follows that the wagon may, at any time, run under the bodyof the said rack. Under the initial forward movement of the wagon afterthe free ends of the lifting legs have been engaged with the ground, therear bolster 2, by engagement with the free end of the thrust lever 20,positively forces the rack to travel ahead with the running gear, whilethe said rack is being raised off from the running gear. When, however,the lift.- ing legs move from one side to the other of their deadcenter, the rack will be caused to lunge slightly forward, and this willrelease the free end of the thrust lever 20, and the latter, by itsspring 22, will then be again moved upward against the stop 21.

In replacing the rack on the running gear, the latter is run under thebody of the rack between the down-turned sides thereof and the free endof the thrust lever 20 is, by a downward movement of the hand-piece 24engaged with the rear bolster 20, so that, when the rack is pushedrearward and the lifting legs 13 moved to the rear of their dead center,the rack will by gravity be thrust slightly rearward and downward ontothe bolsters 2; and, under such movement, the thrust lever 20, acting onthe rear bolster 2, will cause the running gear to move slightlybackward so that the rack will be properly located on the running gear.The improved lifting device, while especially designed for use inconnection with hay racks, is, nevertheless, capable of being applied toracks and wagon boxes of various form, all within the scope of myinvention as-herein set forth and claimed.

What I claim is:

1. The combination with a wagon rack or box, of lifting legs pivotallyconnected thereto and transportable therewith and adapted when theirfree ends are engaged with the ground and the wagon is drawn forward tolift said rack off from the running gear of the wagon, substantially asdescribed.

2. The combination with a wagon running gear and a rack or box, of frontand rear crank shafts having lifting legs, and side frames pivotallyconnected to the intermediate portions of said lifting legs, the saidlegs, when their free ends are turned into engagement with the ground,being arranged to lift said rack from the running gear under travelingmovement of the running gear, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a wagon running gear and a box or rack, of crankshafts applied to the front and rear portions of said rack and providedwith parallel lifting legs, side frames pivotally connected to theintermediate portions of said lifting legs, posts on the body of saidrack, and brackets on said side frames detachably engageable with saidposts, and which lifting legs, when turned into engagement with theground, are adapted to lift said rack off from the running gear undertraveling movement of said running gear, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a wagon running gear and a rack or box appliedthereto, of lifting legs pivotally connected to the body of said rack orbox, means connecting said lifting legs for parallel oscillatorymovements, means for limiting the downward movements of said liftinglegs to positions slightly beyond vertical dead centers, and means forsecuring said lifting legs in upturned inoperative positions, and whichlifting legs, when their free ends are engaged with the ground, areadapted to lift said rack or box from the running gear under travelingmovement of said running gear.

5. The combination with a Wagon running gear and a rack or box carriedthereby, of lifting legs pivotally connected to said box or rack andwhen engaged with the ground adapted to lift said box or rack from saidgear under traveling movement of said gear, and a movable thrust deviceengageable with one of the bolsters of said running gear to cause saidrack or box to travel with said gear while it is being raised therefrom,sub stantially as described.

6. The combination with a wagon running gear and a rack or box carriedthereby, of rock shafts having lifting le s engageable with the groundto lift said rac or box from said running gear under traveling movementof the latter, side frames pivotally connection extending from saidthrust lever 10 connected to the intermediate portions of to one side ofthe rack or boX, substantially said lifting legs and connecting the sameas described. for parallel movements; a spring pressed In testimonywhereof I aflFiX my signature 5 thrust lever applied to the body of saidrack in presence of two witnesses.

or boX and engageable with one of the GEORGE A. PETERS. bolsters of saidrunning gear to cause said I Witnesses: rack to travel with said gearwhile it is SAM G. ANDERSON, Jr.,

being raised therefrom, and an operating S. G. ANDERSON.

